


You Can't Protect Me

by chrissy_sky



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Slash, Yaoi, post-Reload, referenced Hakkai/Gojyo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 05:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3965359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrissy_sky/pseuds/chrissy_sky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Goku corners a brooding Sanzo and attempts to clear up some misconceptions the monk has.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can't Protect Me

**Author's Note:**

> Anon said: Goku/Sanzo 12. "You can't protect me." 
> 
> How perfect are these prompts I'm getting, I ask you? Hella perfect.

-

“You can’t protect me.”

"I know that!" Sanzo snapped, his hard gaze still focused on the window, absently smoking the newest cigarette. 

Goku had already gone to buy him a new pack. Since the mysterious monk's attack, that had left Goku nearly dead and caused Sanzo to run away, their relationship had changed. There was a tension between them that hadn't existed before. Goku sought advice from their other traveling companions, both insightful in their own way, but in the end, he felt he had to figure it out on his own. 

Goku wasn't foolish enough to believe the change was just because of him, but he felt like it was a big part of the issue. 

Sanzo had only felt comfortable enough trusting them because, at the time, he thought that they couldn't die. Goku in particular. Or, at the very least, that Sanzo would die first, being the only one that was mostly human among them. 

Goku nearly dying had changed that. 

"I worry about you getting hurt all the time, you know," he murmured softly.

"Shut up," Sanzo hissed.

" _No_." Goku wasn't going to back down this time. "So that other Sanzo figured out your weakness, big deal. That doesn't mean you get to ignore it like it'll magically go away. It doesn't work like that, Sanzo."

The monk's shoulders hunched, visible because part of his robes were loose, hanging around his waist to reveal the black underclothing beneath. 

Goku stepped closer. He was getting taller, he realized. His head nearly came up to Sanzo's now. "I love you," he murmured, "but you can be so frustrating sometimes, Sanzo."

Slowly, still tense, Sanzo turned to look into his eyes. "What did you say?"

Goku resisted the urge to shrink back. He was an adult now, he wasn't going to hide just because Sanzo hit him with a paper fan, like a child. "I _said_ , you're frustrating!"

"No _that!_ " Surprisingly, Sanzo's cheeks began to turn a few shades darker. "The other thing."

Goku tilted his head. "What other thing?"

" _The other thing you just said!_ "

"Huh?" Goku replayed it in his head. "What, that I love you?"

"Yes, that!" Sanzo ran a free hand through his messy blond hair, though the cigarette was mostly forgotten now. "You don't even know what that means, monkey."

Goku frowned. "I love you the way Hakkai loves Gojyo," he said, as blunt as he knew how to be. 

"The--that's implying that the idiot kappa doesn't feel the same," Sanzo grumbled, frowning right back.

"No, you know what I mean," Goku argued. "Hakkai takes care of Gojyo."

An almost smile crossed the monk's lips. "... So you think _you_ take care of _me_?" 

"Yes." He left the 'duh' silent and implied, not wanting to make Sanzo even angrier at him. "I'm not a kid anymore, Sanzo, I know what this means. It's not sudden, and it's not hormones." Hakkai had tried to explain to him about that, to convince him, but Goku knew better. "I've felt it for a long time."

Longer, it sometimes seemed, than he had even known Sanzo.

Sanzo's eyes widening where the only change that came over the monk as Goku leaned up on his toes, cradling the monk's pretty face in his hands as he kissed him. He'd only had one other kiss to go from for reference-- _and he wasn't going to think about her right now_ \--so he kept it light. Like the light kisses he had spied their companions exchanging, when they thought no one noticed. 

The tension seemed to ease out of Sanzo's body as he caught hold of Goku's waist. The younger man trusted him not to burn him with that cigarette. "Goku, we can't do this."

"Why not?" Goku lifted his chin stubbornly, capturing Sanzo's gaze with his own, so close and frustrating and beautiful. "You don't have to protect me or take care of me, and I'm not leaving your side."

"I'll die," Sanzo said with a sigh. 

"So what? Heaven or hell's not going to stop me." Goku leaned in for another kiss, feeling victorious as the monk relaxed more into him. 

"I'll find you, Sanzo. I'll always find you."


End file.
